Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to two autoimmune diseases that cause intestinal inflammation: Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The market for the UC is filled with several different treatment options, and the pipeline is relatively strong. Despite this, there remains an unmet need due to the unpredictable nature of UC. As a result, biomarker identification is important for UC treatment as it allows for early diagnosis, monitoring of disease activity and response to therapy, and prediction of disease progression, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Ramla Salad, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “One key unmet need in the UC space is the lack of discovery of biomarkers or development of diagnostics to predict responsiveness to therapy. There is a lack of reliable biomarkers that are strongly indicative of patient outcomes and disease severity.

“Biomarkers can also be used to develop new treatments for ulcerative colitis. Additionally, biomarkers can aid in the differentiation of ulcerative colitis from other inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease.”

There are a multitude of agents currently available on the market that target various molecular targets and receptors, such as TNF inhibitors Janssen’s Remicade (infliximab) and AbbVie’s Humira (adalimumab), but there is currently no way of knowing how effective these agents will be in a certain individual.

Salad concludes: “More clinical data is needed to determine the relationship and correlation between inflammatory mediators and disease severity in UC, and how these biomarkers can play a potential role in evaluating the effectiveness of treatment. GlobalData is not aware of any initiatives that are set to fulfill this particularly unmet need, and it remains an area of opportunity.”